Between a Rock and a Hard Place
by Katiikiinz
Summary: (Set in the Academy Years) - A raging argument between cadet Kirk and his best friend, Doctor McCoy, causes him to loose his temper and storm out of their shared dorm. Jim races away, causing him to put him life into danger. Jim!Hurts - Bad Summary! The Story is better! - Read and Review Please!
1. Chapter 1

**_Authors Note:_** ** _  
Hello! This was supposed to be a continuation of my A-Z of Captain K's Medical File, but I just couldn't stop writing! So it's now a little too long for a one shot. I'm enjoying it far too much. I hope you enjoy it too!_**

 ** _I do not own Star Trek - (But still wish I owned that beautiful man Chris Pine)_**

* * *

 **Between a Rock and a Hard Place.** **  
** **Chapter One**

 **** ** _Set in the Academy Years_**

Jim was annoyed. Not just a little annoyed, more like majorly annoyed. His so called 'best friend' had installed some over to the top security app into his phone without him knowing. Not only was it a little freaky, as he had only known Leonard McCoy around a year, but it was something mothers did to their children to… keep an eye on them.

 _"_ _It wasn't my fault. Pike recommended I kept an eye on you. I was just… following orders!" McCoy pleaded with his friend._

 _"_ _Oh I'm sorry, when did you become my father?" Jim just snapped back._

 _"_ _Jim, C'mon…"_

 _"_ _There was personal stuff on there. Real personal!" he interrupted, not allowing McCoy to explain further._

 _"_ _How was I supposed to know you kept some sort of weird log on it! Jim, you can trust me. I won't tell anyone about T…"_

 _"_ _Stop right now." Jim paced up and down their kitchen, breathing deeply as memories of Tarsus IV flashed into his mind. It didn't take long for McCoy to notice he was on the brink of having a full blown panic attack._

 _"_ _Jim, you need to calm down."_

 _"_ _Why? So you can go to the Admiral's about my past? Declare me unfit for future captaincy?"_

 _"_ _You know I would never do that unless I saw a real reason to do so…"_

 _"_ _Great! Just great!" Jim grabbed his leather jacket and swung it over his back._

 _"_ _Where are you going?" McCoy said, noticing Jim eyeing the door up. "It's past curfew. If you get caught…"_

 _"_ _Who cares if I get caught? I'm practically out of here anyway." Jim answered with his back turned. He grabbed the first set of keys he saw and slammed the door behind him, stopping McCoy from saying another word to him._

 **oOo**

The second Jim left the building he took a deep breath of the cold outside air and slowly realised it again, leaving a trail of his smoky breath as he moved forwards. He fiddled with the keys in his hand still, noticing the keyrings felt different than his. He looked down and saw that, in the heat of the moment, he had grabbed McCoy's instead of his own. He let out a groan, which echoed through the empty campus.

Jim paced backwards and forwards in front of the main entrance to the block of flats, trying to work out the quickest route away from here. If he had his own keys, he could have taken his own bike to the nearest open bar, but he wasn't going to risk looking even more like an idiot by swapping them back, so that was one option he didn't have. He could just wait outside until McCoy fell asleep, but that could be hours, and if Jim was spotted then he could be in more trouble than he was already… not to mention the cold weather and limited clothing he had on.

Jim continued to pace, breathing deeply while he fiddled with McCoy's keys in his hands. He needed to work out a plan and fast.

He stopped pacing to think.

"Right… ok, if I know campus security…" which he did thanks to a year of studying the typical movements of the night team, after all how else would he be able to sneak out after curfew? "Then the night security should be around here in the next…" he looked down and checked his watch. "10 minutes. That does not leave me much time." He said to himself, looking down at his watch again, but this time his eyes slightly wondered to McCoy's keys, still grasped in his hand.

Jim frowned as he spotted the unusual key attached to the many keyrings McCoy had collected. He inspected it further, soon realising it had to belong to some sort of vehicle after he spotted the Audi logo imprinted on the key.

Jim shrugged his shoulders. "Well who knew Bones was into his classic cars?" he said to himself again.

 **oOo**

Jim practically ran into their blocks car parking area, squeezing the keys in his fist tightly. The last thing he needed right now was to be caught by security or even worse, McCoy. The car park was situated under their building and was easy enough to get into, after all the key to their apartment was the same to unlock the door entrance to the carpark. Jim's footsteps echoed into the empty carpark as he made his way to their shared parking space. He started to wonder why Bones had never mentioned the tiny detail of owning a car to Jim before, but soon shrugged it off when he saw it. The classic Audi was a beautiful sight. Jim stopped and admired it further before opening it up. It was a beautiful royal blue colour without a single scratch or dent in the body. The windows were tinted black and it was so clean, Jim could make out his reflection in the shine.

"Jackpot!" He whispered to himself as he opened the door. The smell of the leather seats hit his nostrils and he suddenly felt like a kid in a candy store. Jim's hands gripped around the steering wheel as he slowly slid the key into the ignition. He revved the engine a couple of times to listen to the engine purr, before wheel spinning out of the carpark. The tyres screeching echoing through the empty space.

 **oOo**

Racing out of Starfleet campus and onto, what all Starfleet members called it, Civilian Land, felt great. The roads were empty this late at night and his head felt almost clear, until the thoughts crept back into his mind about the betrayal from his so called best friend.

 _"_ _How was Gaila's?" McCoy asked, without looking up from the medical journal he was reading._

 _"_ _How did you…" Jim looked confused as he chucked his apartment keys into the bowl next to the door._

 _McCoy dipped the book he was reading down to make eye contact with Jim, realising maybe he shouldn't have said a word. "You mentioned it before you left earlier, don't you remember?" McCoy lied._

 _Jim just nodded his head slowly, before his phone pinged in his hand. He flicked open the message and smiled to himself as he read the message from Gaila._

 _McCoy chucked quietly knowing full well it was the very person he had just seen. He found it kinda cute that although neither of them would admit it out loud that they liked one another._

 _Jim looked up at the smug look McCoy was flashing him and his smiled dropped. "You're acting weird."_

 _"_ _What?" McCoy asked, "I don't know what you mean." He said, lifting his book up to cover his face again._

He gripped the steering wheel tighter with his hands, as he became more frustrated. McCoy had clearly had this stalking device embedded into his phone for a while. Without realising it, he was pushing his foot down on the accelerator further, causing the car to move faster across the icy roads of Civilian Land.

 ** _oOo_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Between a Rock and a Hard Place  
Chapter Two**

McCoy glanced up at the clock stationed above the dorms entrance. Midnight. A slight shudder raced down his spine as he thought of how angry Jim was when he left and now he could be facing trouble from the admiralty. Well, that was only if he were to be caught out after curfew. Jim wasn't known to be caught before, why should this be any different?

Different thoughts and scenarios ran over and over in his mind. He wanted to get out of this room and chase after him, scream at him and tell him to quit being such a damn infant, but McCoy knew Jim better than that. He also knew that if he were to chase him then he would just run further. Right now he had limited places to go. He was safe on campus. There wasn't really many places he could go that would get him into trouble anyway.

McCoy rubbed his eyes as tiredness started to overcome him. He had sat up long enough and Jim would probably be back soon and the last person he would want to talk to was him. He stood up and checked out the large window, looking for any hints of Jim sulking in the shadows. He couldn't see him, but just shrugged his shoulders. "Damn kid." He huffed to himself as he dragged himself to his small sleeping quarters. "He'll be back in the morning… hopefully with a clearer head."

 ** _oOo_**

Before long Jim had sped off to the small winding roads towards the next town. He had no idea where he was going or when he should turn back, but being out and free felt damn sweet. He played with the gears as he began racing up the small cliffs towards the unknown, switching them lower to gain more speed. Each bend was executed perfectly with neat, tight turns as the car climbed up the cliffs further. He almost let out a smile, before a small coyote type of animal decided it would be a perfect time to cross the road. He instantly slammed his foot on the brakes and without even thinking swerved to avoid the animal, losing all control of the vehicle as it crashed through the thin barriers next to the roads edge, sending the car crashing down off roads edge.

Jim felt nothing with each banging crash to the car. He never let go of his tight grip on the steering wheel, despite the steering being useless. It wasn't long before one of the airbags had exploded into his face. He felt the burning on his hands before he could hear an ear blistering crack from somewhere. Lucky the sheer rush of adrenaline had shielded him from feeling any pain, until the car came to a sudden stop on the cliffs edge.

Jim panted as all the pain hit him at once, he was fairly sure there wasn't a single place that didn't hurt right now. His whole face felt like it was on fire and gushing blood from the airbag. He took some deep breathes as he attempted to move his arm to adjust the rear-view mirror, but the arm wouldn't move. He cried out in pain, it didn't take him long to work out his arm was dislocated from his shoulder. Jim almost slammed his head back on the seat, causing the rocks and rubble from the cliff to shift slightly, he held his breathe as he prayed the car wouldn't shift from its perch. Luckily for him, it didn't.

He carefully looked around for his communicator, before quickly forgetting he had left it at his dorm in a rage. The smell from the engine an airbags forced him to cough, he couldn't believe the stench, but at least he was awake… for now. "How the hell am I going to get out of this one?"

 ** _oOo_**

McCoy snapped his eyes open before the chiming sound of his alarm was even due to go off. He stretched in his bed and sleepily rubbed his eyes. Silencing his set alarm as to not wake Jim up in the other room. Somehow Jim had always heard it and was quick to complain about it when he had been up most of the night drinking. McCoy liked to think of it as revenge but, he had annoyed him enough with last night's fight.

He swung his legs over the side of his bed and stretched again before standing up. He soon headed out his room and headed for their kitchen. He flicked on his coffee maker, the real stuff always tasted so much better than the replicated stuff, and poured himself a cup and took a small sip. Coffee always made him feel good in the morning. He looked around the dorm with the cup in his hand and frowned. Everything was as he had left it. He shrugged to himself, assuming Jim had just came in and gone straight to bed.

McCoy shuffled over to the large sofa and grabbed his PADD resting on the coffee table. He flicked open his messages, as he did every morning, usually to check his schedule that day. The same old messages greeted him first, a message from his mother and then an unfamiliar one caught his attention:

UNAURTHOISED USER OF VECHILE: AUDI 5788

McCoy frowned, quickly flicking it open. He had almost forgotten about the classic car he had in their car park. He preferred to walk everywhere, especially when it was quicker to walk to classes and Starfleet General then to drive. But his mother had gifted him the classic car when he started the academy, probably in hope that he would drive home and see her during the holidays, although he tended to pull extra shifts at Starfleet General. In all honesty he should have gone to see her more, but he never liked to leave Jim alone.

He had set up the on-board computer to the highest security though, meaning the on-board computer could instantly sense when someone else was driving the car. The car couldn't start without the key under any circumstance, so why did he get this message?

"Dear Mr. McCoy.

Your on-board computer of the car: AUDI 5788 ROYAL BLUE has sensed an unauthorised user in the driver's seat on star date: 2256.75 at 23:39PM.

If this is known to you then please discard this message."

McCoy frowned again. Nobody knew about his car and now suddenly someone was trying to drive it. He re-read the message, clicking onto the time and date.

"Last… night…" he trailed off, slamming his coffee on the table and practically dropping his PADD. He moved with haste towards Jim's bedroom, knocking on the door hard before almost forcing it open. Jim's bed was empty, the sheets hadn't been touched.

"That son of a …" McCoy saw red as he worked out that it was Jim that had taken the car.

He ran back to his PADD, opening the voice commands as his hands shook with rage. "Locate Car: McCoy AUDI 5788." It didn't take long for the map to open and show a small flashing dot. He quickly examined the map, noticing the dot wasn't moving. "The kid's parked up on the cliffs towards the next fucking city? Are you freaking kidding me Jim?"

He sat down on the sofa, zooming in on the flashing dot closer. McCoy started frowning again as he noticed the dot wasn't exactly on the road on the map, and it wasn't like his car not to give an exact result. The car was old, but the technology was the most up to date. The car should be on the road, or at least right next to it… but this dot was a good 5cm away from the road picture… McCoy suddenly felt his face drain of colour. "Unless he's not on the road..."

McCoy ran into his room, getting changed quicker than he knew he could. Grabbing his portable medical kit he kept at home in case of emergencies, he quickly slid his PADD into the front pocket of the bag. McCoy then flicked open his communicator with his free hand, "Pike, its McCoy, I think we have a problem…" he said as he threw his bag over his shoulder and grabbed Jim's keys. Slamming the dorm door as he ran out the room.

 ** _oOo_**

Christopher Pikes private apartment door swished open as he allowed McCoy to enter. He hadn't been up long before McCoy had rang him, his hair was messy from his sleep and the imprinted lines from the way he scrunched his pillow in his sleep were still on his face. He had just about managed to get dressed before McCoy was buzzing at his door.

"This better be the emergency you state it is." He yawned as McCoy barged his way into his apartment. "Why couldn't you have told me over the comm?"

"It's Jim. He didn't come home last night." McCoy panted, he had to run across campus to get here.

Pike rubbed his face with frustration. "And this is an emergency? Let's be honest, this isn't the first time he's stayed out all night, curfew or not. He probably just got drunk somewhere and left with some woman."

McCoy shook his head. "No you don't understand. I got this this morning." He said, grabbing his PADD from the pocket on his bag. He chucked the PADD straight at Pike, luckily his reflexes were better than he thought so he caught it.

Pike read the short message, "Wait… you have a car? You kept that quiet."

McCoy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I HAD a car. Jim took it."

Pike rubbed his face again and sighed, "If you want to do something about the theft of your car then you should contact campus security. I said to only contact me in a real emergency, Jim stealing your car isn't something I can really do anything about."

McCoy shook his head again. "No, you don't understand. I don't want Jim to get into trouble over the car. I can deal with the brat myself." He started as he tapped away into his PADD. "My emergency is this!" he turned the PADD around, allowing Pike to see the map. The small dot still hadn't moved from when he looked previously.

Pike looked at the map and frowned, but before he could even ask, McCoy spoke again. "Before you ask, if you zoom in, you'll notice that the small dot isn't on the road… nor next to the road. In fact, it's quite far away. The car has the most up to date technology on-board. The location of the car would be extremely accurate… I really think there is something wrong."

Pike saw the desperation in McCoy's eyes. He really did think Jim was in trouble and it wasn't like McCoy to not act on a gut feeling. "I'll get my keys… but if your feeling is wrong, you owe me breakfast." He teased, attempting to make light of the situation.

 ** _oOo_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Authors Note:  
** I hope your all enjoying reading! Please remember, as we get back to Jim now, that I am not a doctor.  
Nor is this beta read. I apologise for my mistakes.  
Please read and review!  
_

* * *

 **Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Chapter Three**

McCoy kept his PADD gripped tightly in his hands as he and Christopher Pike zoomed off towards the unmoving dot on the screen. All sorts of thoughts rushed through his mind, he just hoped that Jim had ditched the car and was sleeping off whatever he was on in a hedge somewhere.

Pike looked down at the tight grip McCoy had on the map, as he checked his directions. "This is kinda far from campus, what exactly was he doing anyway?" he dared to ask, breaking the tension in the car.

"We… well he…" McCoy thought hard about his next words, he didn't want to leave Jim in any sort of authority trouble, including from the admirals. Sneaking off campus… or running off campus without any kind of permission was prohibited.

"Spit it out doc, this is strictly between us. I don't want Jim in any trouble as much as you." Pike said, flashing a slight grin to soothe the doctor's nerves.

"He found out about the… extra security we installed on his phone. He didn't like it." McCoy replied, noticing the red flush coming across Pikes face.

"Oh." He replied, filling with guilt. "Well, I suppose we should find him and try and explain our reasoning…"

"Your reasoning! I said it was a bad idea." McCoy defended.

Pike frowned, keeping his eyes on the road. "I didn't want to either, it was the ruling of the admirality when they discovered he had enlisted, claimed it was for his safety."

McCoy stayed silent, he knew he wasn't going to win the argument and right now their biggest priority was Jim, where ever he was. He followed the map closer, watching as they approached the cliffs, it didn't take him long to spot a blue mark on the cliffs ahead. "STOP THE CAR." He practically screamed at Pike as they approached further, the car coming into their vision.

"Oh shit." Pike said as he slammed on the brakes of his hoover car. How nobody else had spotted the car before them was really something.

McCoy practically fell out the car, running closer to the cliffs. "Please be empty, please be empty." He whispered to himself before stopping. "JIM!" he called up to the car, "JIM ARE YOU THERE?"

Pike raced after McCoy, grabbing his shoulders. "Get into the car, we are no use down here." He said, pushing him towards the car again.

McCoy sat numb in his seat as Pike drove up the cliffs quickly, there was no answer from the car that he could hear, but then again the car was half way up the cliff. Before he could even remember to take a breath, they had approached the crash site.

McCoy struggled to get out the car as his hands shook, the skid marks on left on the road and the obvious crash through the barriers could only mean one thing… Jim was in the car when it crashed.

"JIM! Can you hear me? JIM!" he called, but there was no reply.

Pike ran up to McCoy, keeping a hand on his shoulder to not allow him to fall down the cliff. "Lets try together, on three… two…one"

"JIM! … JIM! … JIM!" They both called together.

Jim squeezed his eyes tight together, he knew that voice…. Or voices. Was he hearing double? Was hearing double even a thing? He took a short breath with a slight exhale that forced him to cough slightly as he remembered where he was.

"JIM!" The voices continued to call.

"Yeah…" he whispered, realising it wasn't enough. He knew one of those voices… it was Bones, it had to be. "Bones!" he called back with all his strength.

McCoy almost fell off the cliff's edge when he heard the faint reply, "He's down there!" he almost shouted at Pike.

Pike took a step back, "I'll get help." He said, running to his car to grab his comm.

"Hold on Jim! I'm going to try hacking the cars comm, if it works all you have to do is accept the call!" McCoy called down the best he could, praying Jim could hear him as he tapped away onto his PADD. If there as one time he had to thank Jim, it was going to be now and for teaching him how to hack simple equipment.

"ACCEPT THE CALL JIM!" He called down, as he waited for the call to connect.

It took Jim a few deep breathes of courage before he dared attempt to move his left hand. He knew his whole right arm was out of action and having to stretch his arm across his body was going to hurt. He took a final deep breath and tapped the cracked screen in the middle of the cars dashboard. The screen suddenly lit up and McCoy's face came into view.

McCoy attempted to keep calm when he saw Jim. He knew he had to keep Jim calm and any sudden movements from him could result in the car falling off the cliff further. "Well, at least you remembered your seatbelt." He finally spoke, attempting to lighten the mood.

"I'm sorry Bones." Jim said, looking sorry for himself.

A sudden prang of guilt hit McCoy right in the chest, he looked awful and he knew he had done wrong.

"Let's not talk about this right now. How about we focus on getting you up here so I can get my revenge with a hypo or two, ok?"

Jim managed to crack a slight smile, before he let out another cough.

McCoy's sudden smile dropped, "I don't like the sound of that cough, tell the doctor where it hurts Jimbo." He asked, tapping at the screen to stop it blacking out.

Jim closed his eyes lightly, thinking about what hurt most on him right now before answering.

"Jim, don't close your eyes, how about we start with that shoulder of yours, that looks pretty painful." He said, attempting to keep Jim awake.

"I… heard a crack when I… crashed." Jim said, keeping his eyes closed.

"Its probably dislocated, Jim. That's an easy fix, you know that." McCoy said, attempting to lighten his mood. "Anywhere else hurt?"

Jim opened his eyes slightly and looked at Bones on the screen. "Everywhere." He replied bluntly before closing his eyes again.

"Ok Jim, I think if I had fallen 30 feet in a car then everything of mine would hurt too. Any bleeding anywhere?" he asked, keeping the conversation flowing.

"My face feels like it's on fire." Jim replied, not enjoying the fact McCoy was now keeping him awake on purpose.

McCoy frowned, examining the screen closely to assess Jim's face. "You've got a couple of cuts but nothing major, that's just from the airbag. We don't want to damage that pretty face of yours do we?" he turned to see what Pike was doing behind him.

"The emergency services are coming from Starfleet, I've got top security clearance on this stays quiet. They are closing the surrounding roads to ensure civilians stay away. How is he?" Pike asked before looking at the screen.

"Keep him talking, there's got to be something around here we can use to get down to him. He's in a bad way." McCoy said putting the PADD in Pikes hands as he searched around the area.

"Hey Son, don't you go to sleep on me now." Pike said, watching Jim close his eyes again on the screen.

Jim knew that voice too, he opened his eyes again, looking at the screen to see the familiar face of his father figure staring him at him. "He brought you too?" he huffed, he didn't want Pike to see him like this.

"That's no way to greet your commanding officer now, is it?" Pike teased, "You don't look good, kid."

Jim started to cough slightly again, "I don't feel good either." He breathed.

"Helps on its way, you just got to sit tight till it arrives… and stay awake." He raised his voice slightly as he noticed Jim was slipping his eyes closed again. "Don't make me make that an order now, son."

Jim coughed again. "Yes, sir." He replied sarcastically, keeping his eyes closed.

Pike started to feel useless as Jim struggled to keep his eyes open any longer, he could feel the panic starting to kick in. He had been taught to stay calm in times like this but seeing someone you cared about in this sort of situation, made it difficult.

McCoy had managed to find some rope and was quickly fashioning some type of harness out of it for himself. His time spent in survival classes were really paying off now and he made a quick mental note to make sure he never skipped a class again. "How's he doing?" he called over to Pike.

"Not great." Pike called back, "I can't get him to open his eyes."

"Ah fuck it." McCoy mumbled, securing the rope around his waist and legs. "I'm going down, I just need you to anchor my weight." McCoy swung his bag over his shoulder and passed the end of the rope to Pike.

"You can't be serious, I don't think this rope will hold your weight, let alone his too." Pike said, juggling the PADD and the rope in one hand.

"Who said anything about his weight? Who knows what real state I'm going to find him in when I get down there. If need be, just drop the rope. There's a little space left on the edge of the cliff, I'll just have to make sure I don't move too much." McCoy explained, taking the PADD out of his hands and placing it on the floor. "I'd prefer if you held onto it with two hands, if that's ok sir." He quickly added after seeing the confused look on Pikes face.

"I really think we should just wait…" Pike started, although he soon saw that McCoy had already scaling the side of the cliff. "Just be careful. Help will be here soon."

 ** _oOo_**

Pike had pretty much held his breath the whole time it took McCoy to climb down the cliff, every step down he took meant the weakened state of the cliffs side crumbled away. Luckily McCoy wasn't fazed at all by any of this, he was far too focused on getting down to Jim… while saying a few choice words to keep himself motivated.

The second he put his foot down on the edge more rubble loosened, dropping to the ground. It was a painful reminder of how high up they were, but McCoy wasted no time in worrying about that right now. He slowly moved closer to the car, he was, in a way, lucky the driver's side door had smashed off and had already fallen down the edge of the cliff. The kid was lucky to be alive.

"I think you owe me a new car." He joked, crouching down to Jim. He placed his fingers on his neck, attempting to feel a pulse the old fashioned way. It didn't take long to find, it was strong and racing.

"Open your eyes, Jim. I'm right here." He said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Jim just about managed to peel his eyelids back. "Are we out the car now?" he whispered.

"Well, I am. You're still stuck here." McCoy replied as he grabbed a painkiller out of his bag and pushed it into Jim's neck.

Jim hissed at the hypo.

"You must be in the worst pain of your life and here you are hissing at a little needle? Don't be such an infant." He teased.

"What are you doing down here?" Jim asked, McCoy was right, it didn't hurt as much as his arm did right now.

"Checking the damage you've done to yourself… and my car, you know this was a gift from my mother right?" He continued to tease, knowing it would be enough to keep Jim awake.

"Buy you…a new one." Jim mumbled, closing his eyes again. The pain was intense, although the painkiller was taking the edge of. He was still convinced his face was pouring with blood as it stung with every little movement.

McCoy looked at Jim's face, noticing his teasing wasn't working any longer. "Hey, don't go to sleep now, you'll miss all the fun." He said, nudging him a tiny bit.

"Face hurts." Jim said with his eyes kept closed.

McCoy moved a little closer, causing more small bits of rubble to fall from the cliffs edge they were perched on. "I can't get any closer without risking the car falling, but Jim I can promise you that the only thing that's wrong with your face is the slight burn to your chin you got from the airbag. But once you're out the car I promise to take a better look. How's that sound?" he said while rustling through his bag for a stronger painkiller. The annoying thing was that with his being his own and not one of the emergency kits from the hospital, it meant that he couldn't take the really strong pain meds out with him.

Jim smirked a little. "Good. Can we go home now?" he asked, forgetting how one sudden movement could jerk the car forward, causing him to fall to his death.

"Any minute now…" he said, tapping Jim's arm slightly.

"Why don't you try getting him out the car?" Pike asked down the video link they had set up between the car and McCoy's PADD.

McCoy had almost forgotten he was even up there, despite him holding onto the rope attached to his waist. He thought about it, looking at Jim further. "Hey, Jimbo, look at me." He practically ordered.

Jim let out another small cough, gritting his teeth as his moved his head to the side to look at his friend.

"Now open your eyes." McCoy continued to order him.

Jim, for once, did what his doctor was telling him and peeled his eyes back open again, squinting a little from the bright sunlight.

"Ok, that's good. How does your back and neck feel? Any pain?" McCoy asked with Jim looking at him still.

Jim just frowned. "Everything hurts."

"That's not what I meant, any sudden sharp pains?" McCoy said rolling his eyes.

"Nothing that…comes to mind." Jim said, taking a deep inhale half way through his sentence.

"That's good, now look the other way and tell me if there's any new pains." McCoy said.

Jim did what he was told and looked out the other window, taking a sharp inhale.

McCoy's ears pricked up. "Where's the pain?"

Jim didn't turn his head back, "My lower back. It feels warm."

"Warm? Sit forward, let's see if I can see anything." McCoy asked, confused. Warm was never going to be anything good.

Jim took a deep breath and slowly moved closer to the steering wheel, before letting out a huge gasp from pain.

McCoy was quick to look and suddenly felt his heart drop when he saw a large dark red stain on the back of his shirt. "Oh… that's not good. Jim, whatever you do, don't move."

"Well, that sounds…reassuring." He said with gritted teeth.

"What is it?" Pike piped up, his view from the cars video link was now obstructed with Jim's limp arm.

"Judging on the amount of blood we've got rushing out right now, I'm going to guess that he's punctured his spleen." McCoy started to explain as he slowly took off his jacket.

"I thought you could live without your spleen?" Pike asked over the video link.

"You can." McCoy continued, as he grabbed a small metal pen out his bag and a lighter. "But the spleen is like a big sack of blood. It's never good to lose a big sack of blood. How long till those emergency services are here?"

Pike looked down the cliff at the oncoming road, "If you dare to look down, you'll see they are on the way up now."

"That's not quick enough. Jim, listen to me." McCoy said, nudging him slightly who was now struggling even more with staying awake. "I'm going to do something… something you're not going to like. It's going to hurt – but that's only because I can't give you any strong painkillers. Whatever you do, stay still."

Jim kept his eyes closed, he was desperately trying to stay awake but was fighting a losing battle.

"seatbelt." He just about managed to whisper.

McCoy moved his head closer to Jim's without touching the car, just to be able to hear what he was saying. "Ah, I got you buddy." He put end of the pen in his mouth, clenching it between his teeth as he grabbed the scissors out of his bag and quickly cut at the belt, allowing Jim to be able to move further forward.

"Now it's time to keep still. I have to cauterize the wound, it's the only way I can stop the bleeding down here." McCoy explained. "Jim, I wont lie, if you move suddenly we both fall off this ledge."

Jim's eyes remained closed as he attempted to nod his head slowly. The darkness felt amazing to him right now.

Having spotted the slight nod of Jim's head, McCoy took that as the signal to go. He swallowed the increasing salvia in his throat and warmed the tip of the pen quickly, before pushing it into the wound.

Jim's eyes almost burst open as he gritted his teeth and screamed out in pain.

"Almost done Jim! Just keep still!" McCoy reminded his patient as he continued to press the pen in small short bursts onto the bleed inside his body.

With a last poke of the burning hot pen, the bleeding had stopped. McCoy quickly moved his hand away and took a breath for the first time. "All done Jim, now take a breather."

 ** _oOo_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Authors Note:**_

 _Thank you all for your support with this story! The reviews have all been lovely to read and so very encouraging. Thank you again, I hope they continue as the story continues. Its so encouraging to know you enjoy what I write._

* * *

 **Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Chapter Four**

Pike gripped the rope tightly. Every scream of pain he heard from Jim echoed all around him. He started to thank his lucky stars that the roads around them were closed, he really didn't want to explain to civilians that this was a Starfleet matter. Whenever that happened, the press hit hard, filling the news and media with lies and scandal about Starfleet. Recruiting was hard enough, the last thing they needed was this to be all over the media too.

He looked down at the PADD, still only able to see Jim's arm, but maybe that was for the best. He really didn't want to see him in pain.

Before he even had a chance to turn around, he heard the small hums of hover cars pulling up behind him. Starfleet's own emergency services had arrived.

"Sorry about the delay admiral, we weren't expecting to travel this far from campus." A tall man dressed in high reflective uniform said as he approached Pike. "We saw the car on the way up, I'm assuming this is just a quick clean up job?"

Pike gripped the rope tighter again, as to ensure McCoy was still on the end of it as Jim's screams quickly grew silent. "You've got to be kidding me. I've got a cadet and a doctor down there!"

The young man's face suddenly dropped, "I wasn't informed this was a rescue mission – my apologies sir." He sensed the frustration in Pike's voice. He quickly looked down at the rope he was holding. "And you're holding them up with that?"

Pike rolled his eyes. "Who's in charge of this operation?" He called out to them all, waiting for a response from someone.

The man he had been speaking to slowly put his hand in the air, his cheeks flashed pink as he was embarrassed to have to be called out in front of his team.

Pike rolled his eyes again. "Not anymore. Take this." He said, passing the rope to him. "Do not let go."

The man fumbled slightly as he took the rope, but did as he was instructed.

"The rest of you, gather round. We've got a cadet trapped in a car, balanced on the edge of a crumbling ledge in a critical condition and a doctor with limited medical supplies, hanging from a rope next to him. How they got there, is not important. Right now, my main concern is that J…the cadet and his doctor are brought up here pronto." Pike said, being careful to keep Jim's identity secret.

"We could beam them up, sir." A young voice said from the back of the group.

"Not possible, you couldn't get a stable enough signal on them this close to the edge of the cliff. Not to mention the metals in the soil here. Next idea!" Pike ordered.

"How about sending down a mountain rescue team?" another voice spoke up.

"You guys call yourselves an emergency rescue team? We can't get civilians involved." Pike groaned.

"You do know they are only cadets themselves, right?" The man gripping the rope spoke up from the cliff side.

Pike marched back over to him, "I called Starfleet for the emergency services and they sent cadets?! Do they know what we are dealing with here? … What's your name?" Pike asked, fumbling his words with frustration.

"It's Payne, sir. Commander Payne." He replied.

"Well then, Commander Payne, what would you suggest?" Pike asked, rubbing his forehead to soothe the pain from his growing headache.

"I would say the top priority is to get the cadet trapped in the car, out of it." He dared to speak his mind. "If the doctor thinks he can be moved, we would be crazy not to do it."

"And what does the Doctor think?" Pike said, looking down at the PADD on the floor, even though the video link was still obstructed by Jim's arm, the sound worked perfectly.

"Well it's nice to be included in this conversation. Moving him is damn crazy, I've cauterized his bleeding but it's not a permanent fix. Jim needs surgery in a sterile environment. Any sudden movements could cause the bleeding to start up again and I can't promise that I can stop it again." McCoy began explaining, refusing to take his eyes off Jim, who was losing his fight with consciousness more and more with every passing minute.

"Not to mention, even if we do get him out the car, he's the only counter balance it has. The car will fall off the cliffs edge and probably take out most, if not all of the ledge the doctor is currently sat on." Pike continued on from McCoy.

"Then it seems we only have the one choice." Payne said, listening to all the explanations. "First of all we need to get a proper harness and safety line down to the doctor."

"Now that I agree with." McCoy said cutting in as he rubbed his thighs, "This rope is starting to give me rope burn."

"Then, once the doctor is secure, we lower another one down for the cadet. The doctor will need to attach his to the cadet and we can then pull them up together. The car will fall down but we will have both of them attached safely." Payne continued with his plan.

"That sounds just great, the only trouble is, how am I supposed to attach a harness around Jim when he's stuck in the car in the first place?" McCoy grumbled down the video link. "Any sudden movements from him and he falls before I can even attach him to me."

Jim sniggered a little at the innuendo, he may not be able to open his eyes but he could listen just fine. In fact the grumblings from Bones was proving to be a great distraction from the growing pain he was having to deal with… not that he wanted to look any weaker than he already did.

McCoy noticed Jim laughing and smiled, it was good to know he was still awake, even though he did laugh at the most stupid of sentences.

"You'll have to attach the harness around his arms and shoulders." Payne said.

McCoy almost laughed. "You know I haven't even looked at his dislocated arm, right? There's no way he can be moved like that. The pain he will be in… it's not even worth thinking about."

There was an awkward silence as the three of them attempted to think of a new way to lift Jim up, until finally one of them spoke.

"Do it." Jim said – taking them all by surprise.

"Are you out of your freaking mind, Jim? I've already told you, I don't have the pain medication or the medication to put you out for it. You'll be awake and feel everything. Not to mention the fact that we could cause even more damage to that arm of yours… lasting damage. I can't say for sure without looking at it properly." McCoy answered, he couldn't believe what Jim had even suggested.

"No other way." Jim said, finally opening his eyes again. He turned to look at his friend, his eyes were bright red and blood shot. "I want to go…home." He began to cough.

McCoy noticed Jim's overall appearance. "There's got to be another way."

"No time." Jim continued to cough, causing every limb in his body to ache all over as the pain medication he received earlier started to wear off.

"It's your call, doc." Pike said back down the video link.

McCoy had almost forgotten they were there. He stumbled for a second, assessing Jim further with his eyes. It was clear they were running out of time, Jim needed to stay awake as long as possible yet with every passing second he was fighting a losing battle. Who knew how long the temporary seal on his spleen would last, not to mention the fact he hadn't seen Jim move his fingers once on his right hand yet, for all he knew Jim was going to lose the arm anyway.

"…fine, ok, there's no choice. But I need an ambulance up there for when we are up, Jim needs to get straight to Starfleet medical. I'm not happy to move him until it's there." McCoy finally spoke.

Pike turned to Payne and took the rope off him. "You know what to do." He said, nodding at him. "Time to prove yourself... Chief."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Authors Note:**_

 _Just a little one from me tonight - but its full of suspense! I hope you enjoy, please review. There is more to come! Thank you for your continued support, I really cant express how wonderful it is to read about what you all think - the reviews really do mean a lot. (especially if you wonder if people are actually enjoying it!)_

* * *

 **Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Chapter Five**

Commander Payne was only a young man, he had assumed that when his commanding officer had left him in charge that day, he would have it easy. After all, it was always quite on campus during the mid-week. The cadets knew how to behave and respect the rules of campus. If they were ever called out it was usually for a small injury or something similar. It was one of the easier jobs of being involved in with Starfleet – but one he felt passionate for. He had originally signed up with Starfleet to fly out into Space, to see the universe. But his post-traumatic stress disorder from an aeroplane crash he was involved in as a teen, prevented him from travelling. So he was stuck grounded while the other cadets he graduated with zoomed off and saw things he could only imagine about.

Sure, if there was a major incident involving the campus then the team would be ready to handle it. But he wouldn't have been in charge of such a huge task. This was the first time he had actually been left in charge since he graduated last year… this was also the first time he had been called to an 'away' mission and it was a big job.

He took a deep breath as he walked towards the rest of his team, their blank faces said it all – they had no idea what they were doing. The cadets themselves had really been thrown in at the deep end. It was now time to lead them, the way he knew he could.

"You there – Contact Campus, tell them we need a Starfleet General Hospital Ambulance here stat. We have a critical patient stuck in the car. You two – grab the safety harnesses from the rescue packs. The rest of you – anchor a line, attach it from something solid, it can't move and needs to be able to support the weight of two men. I know this is the first time any of you have had to deal with something this big, but you can do it. It's time to put your training into action. Any questions need to be fed to me immediately, we have no time for mistakes. Now move!" He ordered. Pointing in multiple directions and shouting at the team.

Pike smiled at him, maybe he should have cut him some slack before giving him a chance.

"McCoy – how's he holding up down there? The ambulance is on its way now."

McCoy clipped a vial of painkiller into his hypo spray and swiftly pressed it into Jim's neck. "He's seen better days if I'm being honest." He noticed how Jim didn't even flinch at the sharp sting to his neck this time, and quickly pressed his fingers to his neck gently to his neck again, feeling the slow beating of his pulse. "He's unconscious, I've managed to slow his heartrate down for now, but I need to get some oxygen into him, his colour is fading and just watching his chest I can tell you he's struggling to breathe, it wont be long till his body starts to give up the fight to stay alive. Is there any medical equipment up there? I could really do with a respirator down here."

Payne moved back over to Pike with a black rucksack swung over his shoulder. "Did someone order a harness? I've stuck what medical supplies we have inside, but being honest, we don't have much, most of it is for treating burns, but I'm sure there's something in here that can help." He explained. He tied a bit of rope around the bags arm straps and slowly began lowering it to McCoy.

"Nice job, kid. Just don't let go now, any sudden movements and the cliffs edge could go." Pike breathed.

McCoy looked up at the bag, raising an arm slowly ready to catch it. "Help is coming, Jim. Just hold on a little longer." As soon as his hands grabbed the bag he almost instantly opened it, grabbing all that was helpful to him. He soon found the respirator and placed it over Jim's nose and mouth. Then turned his attention to the harness. McCoy fumbled around with it with in his hands, there was no way Jim was getting the thing on, and there was no possible way of doing it. Not without risking the car falling down anyway.

"Pike – this won't work and we are running out of time. Jim's pulse is weak, a lot weaker than I thought."

"If you can't get the harness on then we are going to have to come up with a new idea." Pike replied.

"We've got no time for any more ideas! If I don't get him to Starfleet General soon, then he will die. And I really don't want the last memory of us to be him stuck in a car and me hanging off a cliff."

"Then what do you suggest?" Pike snapped back, sweat began to shine from his forehead as the sun grew in the sky higher.

"I'm going to wear the harness. You're going to pull us up together." McCoy said.

Payne and Pike shared a quick confused glance with each other. "What about … the cadet?" Pike dared to ask.

"I'll hold onto him. We are running out of time! He needs to get to hospital now." McCoy said, raising his voice slightly as he noticed Jim's colouring getting paler. "If he stops breathing then there is nothing I can do. The pressure is building in his chest."

"Will that work?" Pike whispered to Payne, who was still stood in silence beside him.

Payne thought for a moment, it was against all known safety regulations, but there was no reason why it wouldn't work. "I don't see… why it wouldn't. But I wouldn't recommend it."

"Then what would you recommend?!" McCoy snapped back, his patience running thin.

"Ok, fine. Slowly and carefully put the harness on. Leonard… you need to know, if Jim gets stuck in the car and we pull you up… the weight from the car will cause the rope to snap. You'll go down with him." Pike whispered to McCoy, attempting to weigh up the risks.

"It's not going to happen. Just lower the rope." McCoy said with certainty.

"Good. Because I'm not losing you both." Pike said as he watched Payne lower the rope down. His team had managed to attach it to a tree trunk the opposite side of the road. They were all waiting for the signal to start pulling the pair up.

McCoy caught the rope as it was lowered and quickly tied it to his harness, securely. Double checking all his knots. He could feel his heart beating hard in his chest as the nerves set in. "It's secure. I'll just cut the old rope and then I'll be ready, how's that ambulance coming?"

"They are just pulling up now." Pike said, watching behind as the Starfleet General Hospital Ambulance pulled up beside the rest of the hoover cars.

McCoy freed himself from the rope around his legs and waist and took a deep breath. "Okay, pull the old rope up."

"I'm going to disconnect the video link now. See you when you're up here." Pike said, attempting to hide his nerves as he shakily pulled the old rope up.

"Yes, sir." McCoy replied.

"Good Luck." Pike said as he closed the video link on the PADD. He nodded to Payne and took his place along the secure line, to help pull the pair up. He too, could feel the beating in his chest harder than usual.

Payne laid down on his stomach at the edge of the cliff, allowing himself to be able to watch as McCoy was about to perform an action that could possibly kill them both. "ON THREE, READY?" he called down the cliff.

McCoy looked up and rose his thumb in the air. He was ready, well as ready as he was going to be anyway.

"TAKE THE STRAIN!" He called back to his team and almost instantly they were in position.

McCoy moved closer to the car, slowly wrapping his arms under Jim's. He grabbed his own wrists, locking them in place and almost laid on Jim's chest, keeping his heart close to his ear.

"THREE…" He called out as loud as he possibly could.

Payne rose three fingers into the air, allowing his team to see the count down without hearing it from McCoy.

"TWO…" McCoy tightened his grip and held his breath ready…

"ONE."

He pulled Jim straight out of the car, falling straight back onto the loose rocky edges.

"NOW!" Payne called out at the top of his lungs.

It took just seconds for the car to tip forwards as the ground beneath them crumbled away. It felt as the whole world was moving in slow motion as McCoy felt the harness around him get tighter. He dared not open his eyes as he gripped Jim as tight as he could. The limp body was heavier than he cared to admit, but the adrenaline rushing through his blood filled his arms with strength he never knew he had.

"PULL!"

McCoy could hear from above as the pair hung still for a few moments. He peaked open his eyes slightly to make sure he was still alive and released the breath he was holding in when he saw not only was he hanging from a cliffs edge, but he still had Jim in one piece.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Authors Note:**_

 _Sorry for the longer than usual update - I've been busy at work. But I'm off now till Sunday, so my goal is to finish this before then. Thank you to my new followers. As usual I welcome words of encouragement and support - I thrive from knowing people are enjoying what I write.  
Mistakes are my own until I sort a proof reader out. _

_Now we know Jim is safe (or is he?!)... we need to remember why he was dangling from a cliff in the first place! - and fix him up a little._

* * *

 **Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Chapter Six**

Silence overcame the whole team as they pulled the rope, the sudden weight on it and the crashing sound below could only mean one thing – they definitely had one person on the end, but did they have two?

Pike held his breath as he helped the team pull the rope up, Payne had kept quiet and he wanted to do nothing more than run to the edge and check if Jim was in McCoy's arms or not.

"Steady now." Payne called back, raising his arm in the air to slow the pulling down. His team worked to his command beautifully and as if they were sharing the same brain wave length they all slowed down. "Here they come…"

"They?" Pike said through gritted teeth as he continued to pull slowly.

Payne reached down, placing both his arms over the edge of the cliff and reached down for Jim. He grabbed hold of the man and together with his team pulled both Jim and McCoy up over the cliffs edge. They were safe. The whole team around the rope erupted into cheers and clapping. They had saved them.

"Get him on the stretcher and in that ambulance now. We need to get that arm and shoulder splinted once his airways are clear." McCoy started barking orders as he climbed to his feet. His hands shook as the shock of what he had just done came to him.

Pike instantly ran over to Jim and assisted the medics in moving him up onto the stretcher.

"Is he going to be ok?" He asked them, wondering if he wanted to know the answer.

"His friend is right – we need to clear his airways. Then we can move him to the hospital and can tell you more there, sir." The female medic replied. "The fact that he even got him out the car in one piece is well… a miracle."

"That man over there is more than just his friend." He said, pointing over to McCoy. "It's the best damn doctor I've ever met. You will not move this cadet without him. He is the one calling all the shots here."

The medics exchanged a confused look to each other. "We need to move the patient now, sir."

Pike marched straight over to McCoy, who was still trying to get the harness off him with shaking hands. "You've done the hard part. Now time to be his doctor again. Ill follow in my car once I've cleaned up this mess." He explained as he unfastened the buckles on the harness for McCoy.

McCoy looked up and nodded at his senior. "I won't let you down, sir."

 ** _oOo_**

McCoy climbed straight into the ambulance and sat at Jim's head. The medics had already swiftly drained his chest of the building fluid and the pressure had almost instantly lifted.

Jim squeezed his eyes shut a little tighter as he began to wake, the various pinching and tugging at him was enough to bring him out of any medically induced coma, let alone a slight snooze. He hadn't even realised that he had left the car until he peeled back his eye lids and saw McCoy's face grinning down at him. It was almost enough for him to close his eyes again.

McCoy placed a hand on his shoulder, "Relax, Jim."

Jim's whole body felt numb, he wanted to move but something was stopping him. Panic started to overcome him as he tried to move his hand up, there was something on his face… it was stopping him from breathing… from talking… from calling for help. He thrashed his arm a little as his heart beat in his chest harder. "GET… IT OFF" he called out as loud as he could.

"Jim, you need to take it easy." McCoy had seen this reaction from him before, often when he was drunk, but it didn't take him long to learn that Jim hated feeling trapped. With his arm in a splint and the other fastened down with a seatbelt, he wasn't surprised to see a reaction. Although he was surprised to see Jim come around so quickly. He lifted the respirator mask off his face and looked him straight in the eyes. "It's ok, you're safe. We aren't in the car anymore. Trust me buddy."

Jim stilled as he stared back into his friends eyes. Bones looked like shit…. Almost as shit as he felt.

"You got me out?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah, we were pulled out together. It's quite the story you slept through. I'll fill you in a bit later, but right now you need to let me put this mask back on and you need to take it easy before we get to the hospital." McCoy said, slowly placing the mask back over Jim's nose and mouth.

"I… don't feel well." Jim whispered under the mask before his eyes slowly closed.

 ** _oOo_**

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Luckily Jim remained stable and slept the rest of the way. The roads remained quiet so it took no time at all to Starfleet General. The second they had arrived Jim had been ushered into his own treatment room and senior doctors had flooded the room. McCoy was pushed to the back of the room, which had did kind of understand as he was technically still a cadet himself, despite having the same amount of medical knowledge as anyone else.

"We need to set the shoulder." One of them said.

"How did he even get himself into this mess?" Another one said, questioning the multiple injuries Jim had received.

"I'm amazing the spleen puncture didn't cause him to bleed out." The surgical officer said. "We need to get him into surgery and fix this mess."

McCoy couldn't stand and watch anymore, he wanted to be in there treating Jim the way he knew how. He slid out the doors behind him without a single soul noticing and collapsed to the floor in the hallway with exhaustion. He held his head within his hands and threaded his fingers through his dusty hair.

It didn't take the doctors long to push Jim's bed out of the treatment room and race him off to the sterile surgical room. Leaving McCoy to sulk in self-pity. He should be the one in there with Jim, not these strangers, I bet they didn't even know Jim's medical history… then he paused for a moment. Remembering what Jim's actual medical history involved, he suddenly hoped they didn't know his medical history.

"How is he?" The welcoming voice of Christopher Pike entered his ears, snapping McCoy from his daze.

"In surgery. What I had to do to his spleen was only a temporary fix. They should be able to save his spleen this way." McCoy explained while keeping his head in his hands.

Pike noticed his closed body language and crouched down to McCoy's height. "It's not your fault. You saved his life… more than once today."

McCoy fought back the water growing in his eye sockets, there was no way he was going to show his soft side to a commanding officer. "If we didn't put that software on his comm then he wouldn't be in this mess. Everyone needs their secrets, their space. Jim will never trust me again after this."

"You're wrong." Pike said, placing a reassuring hand on McCoy's arm. "That software was to protect him. How do you think the world inside and out of Starfleet, would react if they knew that Jim was George Kirk's son? The one that in 30 minutes of being captain, saved over 400 lives, including his new-born son. He would be under constant pressure, to impress. Not to mention the world of social media following his every move. Jim didn't need that."

McCoy finally lowered his hands and looked at Pike, what he said was true. Jim wouldn't cope with all that pressure… mobs of people following him daily… the lack of privacy. "If only Jim saw it like that. There was some personal stuff on his phone that he doesn't want people to know about."

Pike sighed. "Sadly we already know. Jim didn't have the best of childhoods, but that's all I'm allowed to say for now."

"Will you stick around? I mean, till Jim's out of surgery?" McCoy asked, not wanting to be alone with this overwhelming feeling of guilt.

"Try and stop me. I'm just going to check Jim in, we've got his medical history under lock and key so no doubt the doctors will ask questions." Pike explained as he rose to his feet. He held out a hand for McCoy to help him up from the floor. "You might want to head to the bathroom and freshen up… you look… well a bit of a mess."

McCoy smirked, accepting the hand. "If you're trying to be funny… it's not working."

 ** _oOo_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

 **Chapter Seven**

 _Burning._

 _Twisting._

 _Pulling._

 _What is this pressure? This… pain?_

 _Bones? Where are you?_

 _I'm sorry Bones._

 _I'm sorry for everything. I can't do this without you._

 _You just… can't…_

 _Too many secrets._

 _Too much pain._

 _The loneliness… it's… too much._

 _The past… it hurts too much._

 _It'll hurt you too Bones._

 _You can't find out Bones._

 _You can't share the pain. It's my pain. A pain I pray nobody goes through again._

 _That's why, Bones. You cannot know._

 _I'm sorry… friend._

 ** _oOo_**

McCoy watched every single flinch Jim made. It was obvious from the movement under his eyelids that he was dreaming, but who knows what about. Pike was already snoozing in the corner of the room, curled up in an oversized arm chair, clearly it had been a long day for him too. He placed a warm hand onto Jim's bare uninjured arm, the other arm had been wrapped in a sling to support the newly relocated shoulder injury Jim was nursing.

Both his hands had minor burns, nothing that a couple of rounds of the regenerator won't fix. It was the surgery that was touch and go. Luckily the senior doctors knew what they were doing and were unfazed by the pressure, they had saved his spleen, which was a huge relief to McCoy. He really didn't fancy Jim's chances in space with a lower than average immunity system… too much disease out there.

 _"_ _Mmm, sorry. 'Ones."_

McCoy looked down and frowned. He was dreaming about… him? And apologising?

"Its ok, Jim. I forgive you."

 _"_ _nnno. No. You… can't know_." Jim continued to mumble, rocking his head slightly.

McCoy just smirked, too many drugs for his own good.

"Jim… I promise its ok. I'm your friend. I'm here for you." He whispered, lowering his mouth to Jim's ear.

 _"_ _Too many… secrets."_

McCoy's smirk dropped, the poor kid was swamped with so much information and nobody to vent to. It was never good to hold up so much stress and angst to yourself. It would only be a matter of time until he would snap under the pressure.

"You can trust me, Jim. I'm here for you."

McCoy rose up away from Jim's ear, looking him over again. There was a sheen of sweat brewing over his face and his flushed cheeks clearly indicated he was running a fever.

He rushed into action, a fever this close between surgeries could only mean infection from the surgical site, more than likely inside him. "You just keep talking to me Jim." He soothed his friend as he rushed to grab a bag of antibiotics. Without even thinking he connected them up to Jim's IV and watched at the meds dripped through the pipes into his body.

 _"_ _Mmm… sorry… 'Ones."_ Jim just about managed to mumble again.

McCoy wet a cloth at the sink next to his bed and placed it over Jim's forehead. He couldn't risk giving him any more medication at the risk of him over dosing, so the old fashioned ways of bringing a fever down would have to work for now.

"I know you're sorry, Jimbo. The car can be replaced… You can't." He soothed his friend while he dabbed away the sheen of sweat. "I'm sorry for everything too, you know."

Jim peeled his eyes back a little, allowing him to see his friend again.

"I know." He whispered.

"Shall we start over?" McCoy asked, with a hint of sorrow in his eyes still.

Jim managed to almost smile for the first time, "No throwing up this time."

McCoy laughed. "Deal."

 ** _oOo_**

A few days later, and a whole two days of moaning, Jim was discharged from the hospital and allowed back to his dorm, with the promise that McCoy made sure he took his meds.

"I can walk, you know. My feet were injured in the accident." Jim huffed as Pike pushed a wheel chair out of the hospital.

"Well this is my way of looking after you for now. Do you really think the doctors in there would let you just stride out of the hospital?" Pike replied.

"No they wouldn't. Nor will this doctor. The chair stays until we get back. So stop sulking." McCoy teased, following on beside them.

"People are looking." Jim said, sinking into the chair and dipping his head.

McCoy looked around, "I can't see anyone and even if they were, I'm not surprised."

"Whys that?" Jim asked, looking up from under his hand.

"Because you're in the company of the most handsome doctor at Starfleet." McCoy said proudly.

Pike laughed out loud. "More like the best looking captain here."

"I'm starting to think I'll be better off back in there." Jim grumbled.

"Ah, that reminds me." Pike said, stopping in the chair. "Here's your phone back."

Jim took the phone and exchanged confused looks with both McCoy and Pike.

McCoy rolled his eyes, noticing Jim had no idea why he was being handed it in the first place "He's taken the security off it."

"With the exception of…if you find yourself in trouble, being harassed or followed by anyone at any time, you call me." Pike explained. "We are here to protect you, Jim."

Jim smiled. "Yeah, ok, deal… can I get out of this chair now?"

McCoy placed a hand on Jim's good shoulder. "Not a chance." He grinned.

Jim sighed, he hated fighting with his friend, and he had learnt his lesson there. But it was going to be one hell of a long week if he was going to be confined to their dorm the whole time… maybe he could try and sneak out to see Gaila. 

**THE END**

* * *

 _ **Authors Note:**_

 _First of all - I really hope the ending wasn't too bad for you all - this story was supposed to be a quick one shot of my A-Z Fic, but I just couldn't stop typing it out. Now however I feel like I've dragged it out enough. Sorry we didn't see much of the treatment of Jim, but I am not a doctor! Also - this is based in the Academy Years, where Christopher Pike is still a captain and we don't actually know that Jim has multiple allergies. So as much as I could have included a little allergy slip, I thought it would be best not to as per the flow of the films._

 _I really hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you get a chance :)_


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